Soldaten
by CSENTIMENTAL VALYOU
Summary: Soldaten is back! This time the new Evangelion, a HumanEvangelion hybrid is introduced. Also could the Tech's be investigating the ruins of NERV 02 for technology that could change the Evangelions? Next Chapter: the new HumanEvangelion is in action!
1. Part I: Office space

Author's Note: Hey fellow anime freaks and readers of fanfic! This is CSENTIMENTAL VALYOU coming at you with my first fanfic. I'm sure you've heard this before but I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. This is my first fanfic so please submit reviews. Please be honest!

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PART I: Then and Now 

"Is it over?" asked a 20 something year old man in a lab coat

"Yes, the Anarchists have left. Their moving the bulk of their army towards Jersey." said the nurse who was working at a holo-monitor. "They're just sending in clean-up forces."

"And the scouts? What are their reports?"

"The sentinels have the same thing on their reports"

"Thanks Chrissie. Check if there are any stragglers, please. It's gonna be hell here. Great,another night without sleep, damn it." the man said flatly.

"Sure thing Doctor Ian, give me a sec." Chrissie replied as she gulped down the last few drops of the coffee.

_If you haven't already guessed my name is Ian. Doctor Adrian Krieger. No I don't work in a war-zone like your modern-day Iraq or Africa. I work in the city formerly known as New York City. I work as a doctor/ soldier/ lawyer/caretaker for the Underground Refugee Hospital at New York City. My life isn't like those on ER or House, not even 24, where you always save the day. It's more like you're walking blind with 10 rifles aimed straight at your spine and what your doing isn't always right or for the good of humanity .In this world that peace, love and hippie bullshit is buried six feet under; burned, shot, mugged, and sealed but good. In this world, reality has a real sense of irony and fate. You shoot someone in the head somebody it always comes back to you in 30 different stinging sensenations in your chest. You want to know how I got into this shithole of a world, I'll tell you._

_In our world, it was called the Second Impact, and was devastating beyond belief. In my universe, one of the many things it was called was 'The Evangelion Crisis,' and started asecrative, long, bloody war between the Angels and the Evangelions. The war resulted in 709,000,000 dead and leaving Japan and the world devastated by constant Angel attacks to NERV. Then Amargedon or the Thrid Impact left at leastone out of everyfive humans presumed dead. No one ever found their bodies, although the water was now a gold liquid with a slightsweetness to it.After the Third Impact the Angels stopped coming and the world but humans were pitted against one another for survival. In this period from 2015 to 2028 peace as humans started to rebuild the world they and the angels destroyed. I was about 3 when the Third Impact happened. All I ever learned was that the Third Impact was one thing: you didn't talk about it. My parents acted like it never happened and this was bleak world I lived in was always here. However, peace never lasts long here on Earth. The stage was set for another conflict and the actors were being cast and not as Evangelions, countries, or some random project._

_The first actors to be on the scene were the "Worldwide Anarchy Front" or just Anarchists. They were formed in the USSR as a way to topple the Soviets and then topple other world governments one at a time. They had no leader and they started out in pubs and as an ideal, like the Nazis. Then came 1983, when the top speakers got together in red square in Stalingrad and formed the CCA or Council for Civilized Anarchy to topple the USSR. But by the time the USSR collapsed they had became a dominant force behind the scenes force, controlling the Russian government. 30 years later, after the second impact they formed an underground resistance movement committed to wiping world governments of the planet. Why the hatred? They supposedly found the UN and world governments collaborating to create the Evangelion, it's first pilot, Rei, and the Second Impact and Third Impact. Their cry was "Remember Adam!" whatever the hell that means. They also claimed to have stolen the designs for EVA but that's not possible because the power output to control that thing would be enormous. Remember what I said about how ironic fate could be? Sigh this might come back to haunt me._

_The second party was the Sacred Bond between Humans and Machine (SBHM) or Techs. They were born from the stygian depths of cities were gangsters and police were afraid to step foot in. Their doctrine was that a Man-Machine hybrid would protect humanity from the harshness of second impact and their minds would form as one so no human brother or sisters would never wage war against each other. They had a good belief system going on except for one thing: if you did not want to be apart of their crusade for a "better life", you were deemed non-human and deserved death. After Third Impact they establish their headquarters in the Mojave Desert and tried to spread their word to all the US, Canada, & Mexico. Then in 2021 one of their followers was voted chairman for SEELE. He applied the techs doctrine to SEELE, and started a worldwide campaign towards their cause. You know what happens when madmen like this guy take over huge organizations like this? You can say it in one word: Trouble._

_The mages obtained their powers after Second Impact. However these abilities were very weak and they were not much a threat and barely noticed by governments who were too obsessed with the Evangelion and the angels. Their abilities were strengthened after third impact making them 4 times stronger. All mages were fairly young at the time of second impact ranging from in the womb or sixteen. They were the Jews of the 21st century: persecuted and blamed from everything from failed wars or a bad date. Except for one thing: They were more powerful than 12 humans armed to the teeth. In 2021 groups of mages rallied together and joined a cause devoted to going to Mars and making habitable for all humanity, mage and human alike. They moved to Siberia where they practiced their skills and nurtured the land back to health. When the first world countries heard about this, they launched a multi-national coalition to stamp out the mages because they had grown too powerful for their tastes. The coalitionforces were slaughtered, the ones who survived escaped home to tell of a foe stronger than any force they had seen. They even claimed the mages were more powerful then the Evangelions themselves. _

"Sir, I've got two life readings. They're heading for the barricade."

"Chrissie, are they our people?"

"No sir, their Bio-Energy readings are off the charts."

"Mages, How powerful are they?"

"One's low-end, the other is badly wounded but she looks mid-range"

"Ok, where are they headed?"

"Nor-Northeast sir, and…" she paused glancing at the screen then looking back at her colleague.

"What Chrissie." Demanded Ian

"Sir, Anarchists on their tails, 27 meters and closing in fast"

"That's it. I'm going out."

"Idiot! They're mages. They can take out these guys."

"They're running aren't they? Now hand me my rifle, and some armor."

"Here you go Ian. Here keep in touch with me via this headset."

"Thanks,and keep me posted." Ian got up and locked his Mark 7 EF armor on his chest. He slapped a fresh clip of ammo into his Pulse-Rifle. He paused for while then looked at Chrissie. "Dammit Chrissie! Where the hell's the Juicy Fruit and my Mp3."

"Will you stop bitching about your stupid music and gum! Here they are. Jesus Christ! You're so immature!"

"Tough talk for someone who's addicted to coffee." Snapped Ian.

"I am not addicted to coffee." Chrissie scowled

"Tell that to the empty Mr. Cappuccino, sitting on your desk."

"I only drank a little bit." Chrissie said as she crossed her arms in her chair pretending she was right." Ian swung open the door to the sewers open."

"Whatever, just patch into my radio and keep me updated ok Chrissie?"

"Oh ok, just give me a few minutes." Ian clicked the safety off and as he walked out…

Ian paused as he was walking out the door. "Oh yeah Chrissie, Thanks for not bitching too much." Then he closed the door shut."

"What was that about bitching? Damn it Ian get your lazy ass back here!" She yelled as punched the door with her fists. "Baka! Get back here you bastard! Or I'll…" Ian clicked his headset off.

"I'll give her a few minutes to cool down." He said as he looked down into the black abyss of the sewers. The sewersmaw drooled with blood and water from it's roof.

End PART I

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After word: Well this was boring chapter. Heck, I'll admit it, I wanted to make it longer but I'm getting tired and it's not even midnight! Just reassuring you that there will be other characters from the original anime/manga so be patient please. So if you like this story please tell me, ditto if you hated it. Well catch y'all on the flipside. 


	2. Part II: The Gaping Maw

Authors note: I do not own Gainax, or Evangelion, etc. If you read Soldaten please submit reviews. I would like other people's input. Right now though I would like to thank the people that have helped to make Soldaten

John: story advisory and Evangelion fanatic

Karen: proofreading my error filled work

**PART II **

Ian took his first steps into the labyrinth once called The New York sewer system. There's one way to describe the sewers; they stink…a lot. Rats scurried up and down the dark and damp hallways of the sewers. Ian clicked on his flashlight to illuminate the darkness; he saw pools of blood, guns, and corpses everywhere from a recent skirmish between refugees and anarchists. The Anarchists wanted more conscripts to join their cause for world domination, and the refugees wanted out of this war. Ian saw something shimmering in the water. He pried it off one the dead refugee's hands. It was a ring. It read "Today is the first of many steps in a journey."

"Yeah right." Ian muttered. He looked inside the band. It read "Gracie and Kyle Forever," with little hearts engraved around the message. Ian took the ring, maybe he would meet Kyle's wife and give it to her.

Ian decided that he had turned the headset off long enough. Chrissie should've cooled down by now.

_Click whhhr click_ Chrissie, are you still there? Chrissie?"

The headset clicked back then Chrissie voice sarcastically came on "Oh hi Ian! I was so worried about you, you little shithead. How are the sewers? Can I keep you and your buddies locked up forever? Hey at least you'll have company!"

"Chrissie don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm sorry that I offended you back there, are we even." _C'mon take the bait Chrissie. Take the appeasement and get off my back._

"All right I suppose so. I'll keep you updated via your headset if anything goes wrong."

"Cool can you guide to a rendezvous point with the mages."

"Sure, uploading map now." A visor slipped down Ian's head till all he could see was a yellow screen. Then blue lines representing walls came into view. Two purple dots appeared on the screen followed by two red triangles.

"Thanks for the map Chrissie. Talk to you soon."

"Hopefully, it's later." Chrissie answered. She sat back in her chair and wondered about times gone by, the times before second impact, when life was normal.

_September 1999_

"_Here we are" said a woman in soothing voice "Chrissie do you know where we are?"_

_"Kiiin-deer-gar-ten" answered the little 5-year old._

"_Yes Chrissie, this is Kindergarten. This is where you'll be going to school from now on because mommy has to work just like daddy. Maybe then we can buy you something special like a toy or a book." The woman turned around in the pale morning sky to boy about 9 years old who was holding a book. "Chad, come here" she commanded "you'll catch a cold if you're out in the open."_

_"But mom," the Chad whined "I don't want to be over there, my friends might laugh if I'm over by the little kids."_

_"Spare a few minutes with your sister, will you. You seem to forget that you still are a 'little kid', just stay with your sister for a few minutes, ok?"_

_"Yeah sure mom," agreed Chad. He walked up to Chrissie with his brown hair hanging over his eyes as if trying not to be seen. "So you're now in kindergarten, are you? Well Grandma Birdie thought you might like this book. You do like all that fantasy stuff."_

_"Silly," said Chrissie cutely "This is your book." Her blonde hair forming around her frame around her smiling face._

_Chad grew bright red from embarrassment "Nnnno" he stammered "This is Grandma's book; she thought you'd like it"_

_"It has your writing in it see" Chrissie pointed out, and then she started to read from it. "Chad Myers, 1151 Harter Way, Rosemead CA. But that was sweet of you to give me your book." She ran up to him and gave a hug._

_The brother who was really embarrassed now started to squirm "Hey, gitoff" he said "Not here, ok." Then the bell rang, the boy was know alert and wanted to see his friends. "Ok Chrissie you get to class, ok? We'll read The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe when we get home today." _

_"Alrighty, see ya later big brother!" she said as she walked into her class._

_"Yeah, see you later." He gave her a little wave and walked away._

_June 2005_

_A twelve-year old blonde haired girl hung over the railing of a crystal clear river. Her hair fell down to her chest in braids. She was crying over the railing, her tears falling into the river. Then a dark haired boy, about the same age ran up behind her_

"_Chrissie _pant_ where were _wheeze_ you?" Your brother was _pant_ looking for pant you. What happened?"_

"_My parents died." She said without any emotion "People die all the time in this world." The kid finally caught his breath and spoke._

"_Chad was looking for you after school when you weren't at home. He's looking over all over town for you."_

"_Well, it's nice to know someone hasn't died yet." She said sarcastically_

"_Look my parents died too, ok so stop you're whining and pull yourself together." Suddenly Chrissie burst into tears._

"_Damn it! Damn it! Why! Why did they have to die!" she screamed. Chrissie turned the boy and looked straight into his eyes to avoid him telling lies. "Zack, your parents died because of natural causes! Mine! No natural causes would've been mercy! They were killed! Killed! Killed Zack! How do you think that makes me feel! I just want to stab all of those bastards who killed my parents right now!"_

"_Calm down Chrissie, there are people around you know."_

"_Well they can screw themselves if want to listen," she turned to the land and screamed "that's right people! If you want to listen! You can screw yourself…!" The boy grabbed her to muffle her. Gradually the grab turned into a hug. _

"_Chrissie stop please! This isn't what your parents would want and I'm sure your brother can take care of you. Please just stop!" Chrissie started to cry in Zack's arms _

"_Is there anyone who understands, Zack? Anyone at all?" she asked_

"_I do Chrissie. I do" Her face reached up to his, his down to hers. Under the dying light of the sun, Chrissie shared her first kiss. They kissed as their image danced across the river." _

_October 20, 2021_

_It was a gray sky and very cold. The funeral for Chad was short because Anarchists would soon be back. Chrissie had cried during the whole funeral. She had lost the final part of her old life; she was now the last of her family. Her boyfriend Zack was killed during a refugee skirmish with anarchists four years ago. She was all alone in the cold box called earth. The vicar walked up to her and said "Peace be with you." Chrissie said nothing. There was nothing to talk about. Her brother was dead like everyone she cared about. The vicar began to speak up again "I know this is a hard time for you, and I would like to offer you a job with my hospital." Chrissie looked up and began to talk for the first time since the funeral started._

"_What kind of job?" she asked._

"_I know you have an extensive background in medicine, so how about a nurse? You wouldn't be getting your hands dirty; you would just be helping out."_

"_Alright, when can I start?"_

"_Anytime you want. There will always be spot for you at my hospital"_

"_Ok I'll go."_

"_Excellent."_

The DEEEEEETTTTT of the transmitter startled Chrissie. She glanced at the holo-screen. One of the mages had just been shot. Her rusty chair creaked as she laid back.

"Impossible" she said stunned "Shit, this can't be happening." Just then Ian's voice cackled over the radio.

"Chrissie what the hell was that! Did one of the mages EKG's just just just just flatline?"

"I'm afraid so, "she replied "get out of there now Ian! You can't take on a squad of Anarchists!"

"Well I can try I've only got a few meters to go, so I need to turn off the radio or they may pick up the signal."

"Sure, just be careful. Come back in one piece ok?"

"Hey it's me. They'll never know what hit them." click Ian clicked off the headset and started to continue down the sewers until he heard moaning and yelling by a huge group up a head. Ian knew here he had to tread lightly.

"Well Bitch!" yelled an Anarchist in his late 30's with a 5 o'clock shadow and scars running up and down his cheeks "What'd ya think of your boyfriend now! God! He was so damn weak that he threw down his staff and ran for these sewers. Just curious, are all mage guys' pansies. Geez, but we got one lovely prize here don't we Lobel?" he turned to his squad mate who was too busy feeling up one the snipers.

"Huh, oh yeah sure. Real hot stuff there. She does have nice legs though"

"Yeah, I wonder what she hiding between those quads. What'd ya say precious? Why don't we just take you in for some questioning? Heh heh heh." He turned around as he heard footsteps coming from the right. Ian walked out like he was going for his afternoon walk in the sewers, not a care on his face, or nothing threatning about his persona, except for the rifle and the body armor.

"What the hell are you doing here!" barked Scar

"Just on my daily patrol." Replied Ian

"Who are you affiliated with?" questioned Scar, his eyes twitching for a little more blood.

"Nobody." Ian replied "Just some harmless refugees."

"Well you're just going have to turn around and go straight backtowhere you came fromin these sewers."

"No," replied Ian sauntering to the back of the squad with his hands behind his back "my report says I have to pick up any wounded civilians in the sewers because it makes the sewers stink even more and its bad for the décor, you know?" Ian started to walk behind the squad to where he could see the mage. She was in her late teens or early 20's, her uniform was ruined by the stains of blood on her chest and legs. She was trying to get up but all she had done was paint the wall with bright red. Her light brown hair clung to her shoulders and her pale face. In her hands was a Gaiain Ethereal staff only given to nature mages. That explained why she couldn't heal her self. Nature mages could use the earth life force (i.e. trees, rocks, and fire) to turn on their enemies. She had no healing powers, even if she did she was too weak to do anything but lay against the wall. "So if you'd be so kind, please hand over the mage, please?" Ian asked.

"What do you take me for" said Scar now getting into Ian's face "she our property now, if we do her or kill her is none of your goddamn business." Scar walked back to his squad and announced "Alright, let's load up the mage. Puss, Lobel, and Rod with me. Angel, carry the mage." Ian readied a smoke grenade behind his back and walked towards the anarchists.

"You know, I heard that the grunts of the Anarchist armies are called meatheads. You want to know why?"

"Ha Ha Ha Ha" Scar chuckled "You think your gonna be Prince Charming and rescue the mage princess? Sorry Romeo, but unless you want a death wish I suggest you get out of here now."

"Alright," answered Ian "You've got me convinced," He started walking towards a pillar "but first a little present from me!" Ian pulled the pin of the smoke grenade and threw it.

"What the fuc…" exclaimed Scar as the smoke grenade exploded. Ian ran behind the pillar. Ian readied his rifle, got his grenades readied, and popped a stick of gum into his mouth.

"LAY DOWN SURPRESSING FIRE" screamed Scar, failing his arms towards the pillar. Ian waited until they stopped to reload, then threw himself into the firefight, and opened fire. FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP went the pulse rounds into Angel's body. He didn't have a chance to respond, and paid for his ignorance with a torso full of blood and holes. Puss answered with a few shotgun shells to where Adrian was hiding. Bits and pieces of concrete flew everywhere during the barrage.

"SHIT!" Puss exclaimed when she had to reload. Ian used this chance to run towards Puss and punch in her face. Puss doubled over from the blow and dropped her shotgun. Ian stole the shotgun in midair and swung the butt of the gun against Puss's ribs. She landed with a thud against the wall and began foaming blood from her mouth. Rod pulled out his M4A1 Maverick but Adrian was faster. He swung the butt of the shotgun against Rod's face. CRACK! Went Rod's neck. Somehow Rod still got up and began throwing punches at Ian. Ian backed up and fired the shotgun. The blow sent them both reeling backwards. Rod's stomach was now a fountain of Stomach juices, blood, and urine. Ian landed on his feet and pumped the empty shell out the barrel. Lobel and Scar were all alone at the end of the tunnel. Scar demanded that Lobel use his canon. Lobel agreed with his modified Vulcan cannon spitting out 7000 bullets a second.

"Take this you bastard!" screamed Lobel as he opened fire. Ian knew he was outnumbered. A shotgun can blow a man's insides out but a Vulcan cannon will incinerate you in seconds. The only way to beat was waiting till it overheated which the modified version always did at the most unreliable times. It finally burned out after a few minutes.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Lobel exclaimed. Ian knew know was the time to chuck the grenade. It landed at the feet of Scar and Lobel.

"Oh God…."Lobel whimpered. The explosion was deafening and Ian was dizzy and feeling a bit lightheaded from the explosion. He looked at the tunnel in the dim light he saw Lobel crawling for the edges. Both his legs had been blown off and he was screaming from the pain. "Fucking pansy" said Scar unemotionally, he raised his OICW rifle on Lobel's back and silenced him with 6 cracks for his rifle. He now walked towards Ian with his smoking rifle in one hand. Ian checked his shotgun, damn empty, and his rifle was too far away to get without being shot at. He whipped out his Colt Commando, a six shot revolver capable of doing what a shotgun could in a smaller package. He checked the bullets.

"Six…thank God." Ian muttered. The mage sensing that he was in danger looked mournfully at him. She uttered something under her breath and her hand began to glow. Ian didn't see that the mage was readying a spell; he was too busy focusing on the black abyss from where Scar would come. "Come on, Come on you little shit!" he muttered under his breath while trying to get up. Scar walked by and looked straight at him, then leveled his gun.

"Heh, I guess now we both die, eh? Well you might think you won by killing me and my squad, but FYI the rest of my platoon is coming down to check on you and you won't have enough bullets or wits to save you next time, so go ahead shoot at me." The mage looked at Ian then at Scar. The glow on her hand then shot out blue flames aimed at Scar's OICW. "AAAARRRGGGGHHHH! GODDAMN WITCH!" he pulled his hand from his melting OICW. Then Ian took only a moment to hesitate then shot the bastard with his revolver. Ian got up, relived that he survived that long. He brushed the rubble of his pants and armor.

"Thanks girl," He said to the mage "can you walk?" she shook her head. "Okay well climb on my back, and let's get you patched up." The girl offered a little smirk and happily got on Ian's back. Ian turned on his headset again. _Click Whrrrr click_ "Chrissieare you there, it's me Adrian."

"Adrian, Thank God are you hurt?"

"Nope I'm not, but I've got a mage on my back that is. What's her EKG?"

"It's weak. Adrian you have to get her back here as fast as you can, got it?"

"Sure, tell the scouts that there's gonna be some Anarchists down in the sewers, and we don't want to keep them waiting."

"Alright, get back her you lazy bastard, alive ok?"

"Right" Ian clicked his headset off and started to run back towards the hospital. "Come on girl, don't die on me now!" he said to the mage. The mage just held on.


	3. Part III: Pipe Dream

**Authors note:** Well what do you know. After one long tedious night finishing the story, I'm back to writing. You know, they have to give us hard working authors a dream resort. With roller coasters, the beach, no writing untensils in sight, and some hot girls (I can see it now).Or I can just go to my TV, and watch The Matrix for the billionth time. Either way it's good. Anyways please R&R (read and review) and look out for another fanfic I'm writing at the moment called The Therapist. Now sit back Ladies and Gentlemen and enjoy the thrid installment of SOLDATEN.

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**PART III **

Ian raced down the sewers hoping that the Anarchists didn't follow him. The girl on his back was light, and wasn't much of burden, but she was still being a nuisance. "Shut up" whispered Ian to the girl. She only moaned. Ian knew that if she were to keep her moaning up the Anarchists would find them, then she would be killed without hesitation and him, well the anarchists learned something from the angels that attacked Japan; something called "mind-rape." The words sent chills up your spine just thinking about it. Ian's feet pounded the wet cement as he ran. He didn't know where he was going, because he had cut his connection with Chrissie. If he hadn't severed the connection, the Anarchists would find the refugee camp, and then there would be nowhere to run to.Marthaand Vendellas "Nowhere to run" played through his head as he sprinted through the sewers. Every turn was either a dead-end or a dark passageway; either one was bad.

"Hey boss! I heard something over here." A soldier shouted.

"Probably another Refugee idiot; time to kill us another wetback boys!" shouted another. His comrades shouted in agreement.

"Oh Shit." Thought Ian. He knew he was screwed if he was caught by the Anarchists. The good thing about an Anarchist is that he couldn't hit the broadside of a barnyard door, but what they lacked in skill they made up for in numbers. If they fired, in matter of seconds, Ian knew he would be shot. And that's all he need from depleted uranium shells, agonizing pain, and more agonizing pain. Ian paused for a minute. He knew he could lose the Anarchists in the air ducts. He looked around. There was one about a few yards from his position. He ran to it, but wondered how he was going to stuff a 20 something, unconscious woman into an air duct without her screaming. And would there be enough time to escape the Anarchists. He didn't care; Ian pried off the air duct gate. Ian looked inside and only whistled. It was going to be a tight squeeze, but at least it would be safer than traveling through the sewers. Ian cursed; she was wearing a skirt with military skivvies under. Ian hoped she didn't wake up. That would be an awkward situation. Ian was a doctor, so he saw both sexes naked a lot, but only when they were drugged, and asleep. Ian could hear footsteps coming closer. "No time for second thoughts about women's panties," thought Ian as he threw her in the air duct and jumped in after her.

The air duct was more crammed than Ian expected. He could barely move his arms. All he could use to push himself and the mage was his feet. Slowly but surely, he inched himself and the girl into the duct. About 60 yards later, Ian decided to turn on his radio. He needed an exit; crawling through an air duct had lost its fun_. "crack fzzzt click" _went the radio, Chrissie's voice came over the earpiece. "Ian…do you know where you are?"

"In the shits?" he answered.

"Your friends' EKG is growing faint. You've got to get here as fast as you can, take the vent route."

"You're kidding right? I survived bullets now I have to be chopped to death by some rotating knives of death, just so you can see some red haze come out the ventilation! No thank you!"

"Just go! I'll stop the rotors and when you're behind give me the heads up so I can push you towards the laundry room. Start walking…now!"

"All right so I just go forward? Sounds simple; there isn't a catch is there?" Ian spoke as he inched his way to the engineering room.

"Just one." answered Chrissie.

"Great, what is it?"

"Commander Aida's coming with Field Marshall Langley-Soryu."

"Commander Kensuke Aida and Field Marshall Asuka Langley-Soryu of the Gaia-Mage Defense Alliance are coming here? Yeah right, you just want me back quicker, cause you can't stand being without me, right?"

"Shut up, Baka! We just received the transmission from the Wyvern, Aida's command gunship. I can play it for you if you want."

"No thanks, how long do I have?

"10 minutes at the least."

"Crap, what do they expect! Run the Gauntlet in 6 minutes! Without getting me or precious here killed."

"Ian,just shut up and move! You've got 9 minutes, Takahashi out."

"Damn." Ian could now here the grinding of metal from the engineering room. He pushed the mage out of the tunnel and onto a scaffold and then climbed out. Ian checked her pulse. Damn, these mages were strong; she wasn't dead yet. He hoisted the girl on his shoulders and started walking towards the control room.His boots hit the metal floorboard hard giving off a sound that rebounded and echoed throughout the complex. Ian shivered as he heard the sound. Couldn't once he just have smooth sailing on one of these rescue missions just once? He opened the door to the control room; nobody. Ian knew that the quickest way would be ignoring Chrissie's way and taking a shortcut through the water purification system. It was a far cry from the vents in terms of safety, but if lucky Ian knew he and the girl would make it. He ran to the edge of the control room and jumped off. If he aimed it right he would be in an aqueduct heading towards the water purification system. _CLANK _His stomach hit the edge, even though he was protected by the armor, he got the wind knocked out of him. Gasping for air, he started to swim towards his exit. The refugee camp or New Bronx as the locals called it got its water from aqueducts that ran up and down the streets like rivers. Ian knew if he got off at the hospital exit, he would have enough time to care for the mage and seem like he wasn't playing John Wayne in the sewers. "Oh shit…" Ian fell into a chasm that he hadn't thought of. "Goddamn it!" Ian shouted, now he would have to get off a kilometer from the hospital. His arms scrambled to get to the exit, but the current was too fast. Ian knew he would end right back up in the sewers if he didn't make the exit. His arms failed uselessly until he remembered he had his pulse rifle still. He could usethebutt of gunas a hook, if he got in close enough. He reached with his rifle, hoping it to latch on to the gate. Ian stretched his gun out to where he could barely reach it. The thing he feared was true; his gun was too short. Then Ian remembered the girl's staff. He could use the insignia at the end as a hookto grab the edge. Ian shouldered his rifle then; he grabbed the staff and extended it. Perfect. It latched on without a hitch. He pulled himself and the girl towards the gate. Now the part Ian hated. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" The drop. Ian swerved in and out of the turns. He dodged the obstacles and fragments of metal. As a kid he never went on any roller coasters, so this was his form of hell. Ian closed his eyes as he was entering the last drop. Ian couldn't scream this time, he threw up. Ian raced down the pipe line, until he could see light. He slowed down as he entered the "rivers" of the New Bronx. He stopped his ride, and leapt out of the aqueduct and started running with the mage on his back. People didn't stare long; this was part of their daily life. At least twice a week somebody came in Hollywood style, bring in someone who had just fought in a skirmish. It was nothing new to them.

Ian could hear the helipads opening up for the gunships. He had a little bit of time left. As he was running towards the hospital, Ian caught a glimpse of the mages gunships. In this war, the mages relied heavily on their gun ships because they had a certain lack of respect for tanks. Their gunships used VTOL technology, equipped with the most advanced missile systems and auto-slug cannon, and looked like an AH-1 with wings and without a rotor. Ian ran into the hospital and begged for a room. "Please! Please! You've got to get this woman a room!"

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't just…"

"DO IT!" screamed Ian. In a much calmer voice he continued "I'm a doctor, she'll get immediate medical attention with me, and then she'll be moved. I promise."

"All right," replied the receptionist "C-wing, 26th floor, Room 2603."

"Thank you." Rushed Ian as he ran towards the elevator. Ian pressed the 26th floor button and proceeded down. New Bronx was an underground city so everything went down, including floors. He finally reached his destination, he scrambled for room 2603. He finally found the room, located conviently close to the elevator. He opened the door up and looked around. It was a nice one-bed room with a view of the city. He took the girl of his back and laid her on the cotton sheets. Ian checked her pulse once again. She was fine, a nice surprise but somehow unlikely. He heard the mages were powerful, but he never knew they could cheat death. He applied some tourniquets to her legs and bandaged her back to stop the bleeding. Ian convinced himself that this was like dressing a corpse. The girl had malnutrition, she was very skinny and from the looks of things she was even weak, not much of soldier in Ian's eyes. But somehow she survived going all throughout the sewers and even through the aqueducts. Ian finished dressing her when he noticed something else. The mage was clinging onto a piece of paper. He took from her hand and read it: "Meet me in the Bronx, Love Kyle." He took out the ring that he found earlier. The names engraved were Gracie and Kyle. Maybe her name was Gracie. He set the pieces of paper and the ring on a desk. Ian powered down his armor, and took it off. He glanced at his armor. Bloodstained, battered, and shot; yep another day in the Bronx. He swapped his armor for a white lab coat that was hanging above. At least he'd look presentable. He glanced at the clock. The mages and Chrissie were both late. Ian decided he'd look outside at the city. Ian opened the window, as a blast of cool air kissed his face. Ian scanned the skyline of the New Bronx. The city was fairly unassuming on the top level, not much to see. The entire 'skyline' was deep underground; Ian saw the other buildings with their walkways and people bustling about. In the early 20th century New York took precautions in case of an Angel reached American shores. Unlike Tokyo-3, the first fortress city, New York was able to keep its old buildings. The only thing they had to do was to build these "Geo-fronts" so that the buildings could go underground. Nobody understood it much except for the fact that it took 9 years production time to complete. By the time it was completed, 3rd Impact was right around the corner.Then the whole city retreated underground to avoid the fallout. The Refugee camp was underground or barely above the surface, even though what remained of New York was above ground. The top level of the refugee camp was about sub-level 5 so thelevel Ian was at sub-level 32 or something like that. Ian heard the click of the door opening. Chrissie walked in holding two mugs of hot coffee, a semi-gourmet treat in the post 3rd Impact days. "Thanks for the coffee." He said gratefully.

"Put the coffee down." Demanded Chrissie.

"Ok, for what?"

"For this." SLAP! Chrissie hit Ian straight across the face leaving his face with a red-pink hue.

"OW! What was that for!" yelled Ian.

"You deserved it." Said a red haired woman in her mid-30's who walked through the doorway.

"Don't worry it'll heal it time, she still does that to Shinji." Continued a man about the same age as the woman.


	4. Part IV I heard it through the grapevine

**Author's note: **Well here I am working on Soldaten. For those of you who know me because my other fanfic, The Threapist, please read this one. Even though it is not the most popular, it's still my favorite.

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or GAINAX. If I did then why would a be writing this story on fanifc?

* * *

**PART IV **

Ian couldn't believe his eyes. Standing before him were two of the most famous people in the post-Third Impact world: Asuka Langley Soryu, one of the original EVA pilots and Kensuke Aida, the famous general who tactfully defeated the NATO, Russian, and Chinese forces at the second battle of Manchuria. They were modern-day Patton and Eisenhower to the Refugees in the New Bronx. Aida took a step forward and formally greeted Dr. Adrian.

"It's an honor to meet you Dr. Adrian. We've heard so much about your work here at New Bronx." Kensuke began.

"No, the honor's mine." Ian said.

"Ok, we thank you for bringing our mage safe and sound," interrupted Asuka "but I think there was a reason that Miss Chrissie slapped you, wasn't there?" Ian looked at Chrissie through the corner of his eye. She was glaring at him, while quietly sipping her coffee.

"Yes, there are few reasons why." Chrissie said venomously "He put himself and your mage in considerable danger, after he disobeyed a direct order. He should have been killed at least four times already!" It's a wonder he survived."

"Hey, your way wasn't any better! I could've be sucked into a rotating fan of death had I obeyed an order by you!" Ian snapped back.

"Look you could've died doing what you did in the aqueduct! Do you know what happens to people when they miss the exits! They get liquefied by the impact of the concrete floor!"

"Look I didn't die, so why are you angry about how I should've died? It's almost like you want me to die!"

"Oh I'll kill you now, and this time you won't live to tell of how you survived!" Chrissie threw punches and slaps to Adrian, who was trying to dodge them as fast as he could. Kensuke then turned around to Asuka.

"Sounds like you and Shinji." Kensuke joked.

"I don't do that to Shinji a lot now. Although you're right, I did do that to Shinji a lot when we were younger." Kensuke then turned to Ian and Chrissie who were still fighting. Ian had a few red marks on his face and Chrissie's glasses were cracked and dangling of her nose.

"Alright you guys, let's be civil and leave Celia in peace she needs her rest." Kensuke said as he tried to keep a tense peace.

Ian thought for a second "If the mage's name is Celia then who is Gracie?" BeforeKensuke or Asukacouldanswer , the receptionist stepped into the room. She looked more stressed out than usual.

"Dr Adrian Krieger and Chrissie Takahashi," the receptionist interrupted "the general requests an audience with you and the field marshals immediately."

"Thank you," Asuka responded, she then looked towards Ian and Chrissie "I think this may concern us too so we'll come too."

"Alright, let's go." The group left the room leaving as quiet as a cemetery. Celia opened her tired eyes. She scanned the room, relived that Chrissie and Ian were not fighting anymore. She was grateful for Ian rescuing, but he sure wasn't a very good at behaving around his patients. Celia winced as she sat up straight, she could feel the bullets still lodged in her back. Celia knew she had been through worse than this, but the morphine that Adrian gave her when he bandaged her didn't help a lot. It wasn't a large dose, but she still felt dizzy and slow. She leaned forward to look out the window to look outside. Celia could not believe what she saw: a fully functionally geo-front. She thought the only two geo-fronts built to protect NERV facilities in Tokyo and Nevada were both destroyed. This geo-front was different than the geo-fronts she knew. These were fully functionally underground cities with oxygen and greenhouse gas abundant air. They almost reminded her of…Celia winced again as she touched her leg. Damn, she reminded herself not to be too careless. Careless, the word echoed in her head as she remembered her failure. How she been careless and now her squad mates were dead because of her and her huge head.

**5 hours ago **

_"ETA, to landing zonetestamentis ten minutes." The dropship's pilot's voice boomed over the loud speaker. Celia was sitting in the back of the dropship checking her ethereal staff, making sure all the runes were safely intact. Celia glanced briefly at her company's symbol at the end of the staff: fire with wings, the angels of remorse. She shortened the staff so she could slide into her belt's holster. She then glanced at her squad, as they were talking, cracking jokes about their commanders, and talking smack._

"_Good," she thought "at least they're normal." Celia never joined in their conversations, she thought very highly of her commanders and she moved around so often when she was a kid she never had any friends. Celia just sat quietly looking at her modified OICW. She was fascinated by weapons for some reason or another. She never wanted to chop heads off anything like that. All she wondered about weapons is why we have them. For protection? For bloodlust? For hate? _

_Her mom tried to lead a peaceful after her dad saw Gaghiel attack Evangelion unit 02. Her dad was one of the few people outside of Japan, who were not leaders or part of SEELE, who knew about the Evangelions. He saw what destruction they could bring, after he saw one of them while he was in service for the carrier USS Over the Rainbow. After third impact he was one the many who disappeared. After that her mom tried to raise Celia and her sister, Gracie, in a caring and warm home. However to find that patch of heaven they were always moving to avoid warlords, Anarchists, or government forces. When her mom died Celia's sister enlisted in the newly formed Gaian Marine Corps. Celia had no choice but to follow. She was immediately praised by her superiors for her quick thinking and strategies in combat. She was able to predict where here enemies would strike and then counter-attack effectively. She eventually passed up her sister when she was made Lieutenant. So here she was a leader of her own platoon. _

_She looked again at her objectives map. It was a search and extract mission and relatively straight forward; rendezvous with red squad, do a quick recon sweep, split inside the sewers and extract somebody from the refugee camp and leave. However Celia didn't like this mission from the start because of one thing: they were not told who to extract. Command said it would contact them about who they were extracting once they were inside the city. They were being unusually secret about this mission, and they usually were forth coming with information, but this was different. Gracie, her sister had a boyfriend in the refugee camp, so she beggedCelia to give him a letter._

"_Ok Ladies and Gentlemen," the loudspeaker boomed "ETA to landing zone testament is in 10 seconds. Lock and load angels! I'll pick you up in 0500." The dropship's shields lowered as Celia's squad leapt into the streets of New York. _

**4 hours ago **

_Celia slapped a fresh clip of ammo into her OICW. She scanned the bombed out city of New York with her visor. All she could see was ruins of a once great city and her comrades. "Alright squad, let's move up." She said to her squad mates as she pointed her hand forward. Her squad was a basic 4-man squad with her included. Her support gunner was Corporal Carl Digweed, a 24 year old bravo guy with body and skull as thick as steel. Her shield/medic mage was Private Kitsune Sado, a fresh recruit straight out of boot camp, who was eager to fight in her first, which could be a liability to the squad. The squad's heavy weapons expert was Private Chris Whitta, a sarcastic kid who even though he was 22, and he had already seen his share of combat. Celia moved her squad up Broadway where she would meet red squad. "Ok squad we'll dig in here, but be ready to move at a moments notice." Her squad nodded in approval, and shouldered their weapons. "Not you two," Celia said as she pointed to Carl and Ritsuko. "I want you to do sweep of the area. Come back in 30 minutes." Both of them nodded then walked away from the perimeter. _

**3 hours ago **

_Celia peered over her ranger grave where she could see Ritsuko and Carl coming back with red squad. The Sergeant of red squad was Neville Clarkson, a hardened soldier from England, was a decorated soldier in the GMC's. "What's up Celia," Clark said with his accent "sorry we're late but we had play good hosts to some Anarchists."_

_"They're here? Do they think they followed our transports to our position?" Asked Celia to Neville _

_"No doubt," He responded "they gave us one hell of a fight so I suspect there'll be more, so let's just continue with our mission and head into the sewers. I doubt they'll follow us."_

_"Alright Neville, let's go. Green squad cover red's flanks! Red, lead the way."_

_"Right and one more thing Celia."_

_"What's that Neville?"_

_"Don't call me Neville. I prefer Clark than my actual name."_

_"Ok, Clark." Both squads doubled timed it into Manhattan. What they didn't see was the Anarchist scouts hiding in the alleys._

**2 hours ago **

_Red and Green squads eventually made their way deep into the sewers to the refugee camp. Once they had made their way a few levels down, the squads started to get tense. The sewers stunk to high heaven and were loaded with dead ends, shadows, and blocked ways. A few of the squad members were so scared they even shot at the shadows. The maps they were given were rough since not a lot of squads had ever been down here before. The map was full of mistakes and both squad leaders had to guess which way they were going to head. Clark held up his squad after he saw something on his motion tracker. _

_"What is it Clark?" asked one of Clark's squad mates. He switched off his visor and then looked at his squad, then to Celia._

_"Anarchists are coming; they were just waiting for us to get in the sewers. Here we have no radio to the outside until we reach New Bronx. We'll hold them off here and we'll meet you at New Bronx." _

_"How many?" Celia asked nervously. Clark just smiled and then said._

_"Don't worry, we'll take care of them." And then he winked "Get going Celia. Semper Fidelis" Celia looked at him again and then looked to her squad. _

_"Squad, move up. Let's get this over with." She said without any emotion. Clark looked on as Celia left. He knew him holding his position would only buy Celia time and nothing more. _

**1 hour ago **

_Celia and her squad were almost at the first gate. She hadn't heard anything from Clark's squad, which worried her a lot. Just then Chris came up to her and saluted._

_"Sorry, milady but Ritsuko heard gunfire from up the sewer. We should be careful._

_"Thank you, Chris. Everyone ready your rifles and prepare for close combat." Just then she heard her radio hum to life. It was Clark's signal but it was a recording. She played the recording; she knew red squad was down. Clark's voice sounded as he prepared his squad for a skirmish._

_"C'mon you lot! Set up defensive position and find cover behind that junk." Celia then heard gunfire coming from the pulse rifles. "Lay down suppressing fire! Lay down suppressing fire!" yelled Clark as he switched his recording to visual. Celia could see that it was 2 platoons against one squad. Celia knew that mages usually prevailed in these circumstances, but she had a bad feeling about these platoons. She could see that Clark's squad was to heavily suppressed to get anything done. "Fire in short, controlled bursts! Check that ammo." Just then she heard a click coming from the Anarchist side. _

_"SHIT!" yelled a squad member "FA GRENADES!" He ran from his cover and tried to make it to other side. He was ripped apart by the bullets. Clark swore heavily under his breath. Another squad mate was too slow and was brunt to death by the Fuel-Air grenade. _

_"FALL BACK!" Clark yelled to his other squad mate. She darted back and tried to give him covering fire but she to was ripped apart by the bullets. Clark clicked his OICW to automatic let out a battle cry and ran into the fray. He emptied his clip on 7 enemies until he saw his own doom: a Vulcan cannon. The cannon fired and blood sprayed onto the visor. A scared figure walked towards the visor and spoke to it. _

_"Thanks for weapon." He then raised it on the visor and fired. The feed was terminated. Celia could then see her motion tracker. She knew it was the same force that massacred Clark's squad. She looked to her squad and said only one word: "RUN!" Her squad sprinted until they found cover behind some pillars and alleys. Kitsune looked to Celia with a puzzled look._

_"Are there Anarchists coming, Celia?" she asked. Celia looked back at her comrade._

_"Yeah, I heard it through the grapevine." She answered. Right on cue, The Anarchists came up on the thermals on their visor. Celia peered to the left of her cover and she immediately saw the Vulcan cannons. _

_"Open fire!" she yelled to her squad. All her squad opened fire, killing the first line of troops. This was just too easy; usually you don't fight in the open. What were they waiting for? Celia soon knew. "Oh no." she muttered. The grenades started coming towards their cover. She knew it was a risk but she told her squad to move towards the end of the tunnel. Maybe they would lose them. She was wrong; Chris was first one to go down, because he had been shot in the leg, immobilizing him. All Celia could do was run as the bullets whizzed over their heads. Soon she was shot in her arm. It wasn't a fatal injury, but it would severely limit her accuracy. Then Ritsuko went down as she was shot in the back, too close to her spine. Celia assumed she was dead. Now it was only her and Carl. Carl soon couldn't stand running anymore. With a valiant cry "LET'S ROCK!" he let his bullets fly from his SAW. It seemed he was extremely lucky or the Anarchists were really bad shots, but it looked invincible. However his gun soon overheated and he was forced to use his pistol. He charged towards his enemy until he was stopped dead in his tracks by a barrage of bullets. Celia couldn't look back at his dying body. Already she had lost her 2 squads in a matter of minutes. She was shot again in the back; she doubled over, where she was shot again in the legs and back again. Celia now crawled like a dog to some cover. She could hear her doom approach as she tried to steady her rifle with one hand. She said in whisper "I'm sorry that I couldn't find Kyle, Gracie."_

Celia, now in the safety of a refugee hospital was grateful for Ian rescuing her. But she was saddened over her squads' demise. She knew she should've been a better commander, but she wasn't. Tears started to form in her eyes as she tried to wish it all hadn't happened. She buried her head in her sheets, as she was thinking of her failure as her squad's leader.

Ian and Chrissie walked into the command room. Ian saluted to a short, husky guy who was barely up to Ian's shoulders. The man turned around and looked at Ian and Chrissie.

"Ah Ian and Miss Takahashi, I believe." The short man began. "Where are Asuka and Kensuke?"

"They said wanted to check out an incoming squadron of gunships coming into the hangar, General Advent." Ian said.

Advent sighed "That's a pity, I required their council."

"What seems to be the problem General?" The general pointed to a holo-screen.

"This." He answered.

Asuka and Kensuke walked towards a helipad. Suddenly Kensuke stopped.

"What is it?" Asuka asked. Kensuke paused for a moment then turned to Asuka.

"I've picked up something on the Anarchist net. They've got some ill-news for us."

"What is it" Asuka asked.

"They've just rebuilt EVA." Kensuke said dully.

"They can't do that," Asuka said sarcastically "you know they need Lilth to make an EVA."

"Yes, but it seems that they raided the Nevada 02 site and built an EVA from designs that were kept there."

"But I thought site 02 was destroyed. It was turned into pure energy, right?"

"Apparently, not. The Anarchists report that only the test chamber that was turned into pure energywaswhereS2 unit was being tested." Kensuke said.

"This is ill news," Asuka said glumly "along with the tech's EVA's; we don't have any for ourselves to defend ourselves."

"Yes, but there are more than one way to defeat an EVA. We are going to have to alert Shinji immediately."

"On the other hand do you think Ian knows why we are here?" Asuka asked

"Probably, he thinks we are here to clean up Anarchist forces." Kensuke answered.

"Let's hope so." Asuka said hopefully.

On the outskirts of New York SBHM army led by a woman in a formal SBHM imperial uniform and a robot who was right next to her wielding a huge ax-sword. The thing that separated this robot from the others in the army, that on it's back was the marking that read "Unit 14." The army's cannons were ready to fire on the city, like eagles ready to strike from their nests.


	5. Part V: The Ghosts of NERV

**Author's Note**: Well I'm back from the dead. To my readers I am deeply sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy with summer (i.e. vacation and camps). Well to all you hungry for more here Soldaten: Part V.

A platinum blonde woman held her sword close to her chest as she scanned the horizon of the Third Impact World. The sky was blood red, the soil; poisoned, and the air had a stale taste. She looked at her companion, an eight-foot tall cyborg, who was the silent monolith overlooking the landscape, keeping his vigil over the war-torn world. His face was hidden by a mask, with only slits for eyes. The woman turned to the cyborg, sensing that he was troubled. She loosened the grip on her sword, and looked towards the Prototype Mobile Evangelion Unit 14.

"You're tense, aren't you Brian?" said the woman in a mother-like way.

"It's just that these Anarchists use these tactics to 'persuade' people to join their cause. All this show of force, just for one objective, for one purpose."

"Yes, they are quite crude aren't they? You've fought them before Brian, and you still have second thoughts about their motives? Figures; you were always second guessing yourself, even when you were in dire straights."

"Veronica," Brian sighed "if I remember correctly you weren't always this, well, sarcastic. You were a nice girl, once upon a time ago, and now here you are bossing your older brother around."

Veronica looked at her brother, eyeing his armor. She knew it wasn't so much for protection, as it was keeping his intestines together. "You've changed too, Brain."

"Yeah, except all that's changed for me is that I'm incased in this armor, if you haven't noticed Miss Veronica Sanchez, Lieutenant of the Empress's elite guard." He turned around to look at the regiment he and sister had in their command. Their army of SBHM was quite small compared to the Anarchists moving through the remnants of New York City. However the Anarchists were known as "blood donors" for a reason. Their armies were huge, and their causalities just as large. The Anarchists only won by the skin of their teeth, or by overwhelming odds. Either way the SBHM's objectives were clear: capture preferably, or kill Field Marshals, Asuka Langley Soryu, or Kensuke Aida. Second objective was to kill Anarchist command in this area. High command had already determined that the regiment would move in after the Anarchist's or the Refugee's were through.

Brain eyed the soldiers in his regiment. Most of them were young, idealistic, and stupid. Most of them had not seen much actual combat, mostly because they were stationed on guard duty in the fortress cities or "sacred provinces" as their formal name went. The others in the army were actual robots, made for combat in the absence of actual human beings. The philosophy that the SBHM had was that machines and humans should co-exist in the Third Impact, and having a mixed regiment was only putting the philosophy to use. Most of the soldiers were armed with Kreig Commando 500's; rifle's capable of sniper operations and full out combat. They were armed much better than the Anarchist's who mostly had AK-74u's which were still sturdy and reliable, but not as versatile. Brian's scouting of his army was cut short by his sister, who had received news from high command at New Cana in the Mojave Desert.

"Brian," she said in calm voice "you're being sent to the Anarchist mobile command center. Your mission is to dispatch of the commanding officer, Colonel Braxis."

"Sounds simple enough; get in, assassinate some colonel get out." Said Brian without a touch of emotion.

"Your mission starts in 2 hours, at which time; you should be at the base."

"What? No transportation? They are really pushing it aren't they?"

"Oh quit complaining, transportation shouldn't be a problem for an EVA like you."

"Right, just make sure command doesn't fire on me, alright sis." With that Brian leaped 70 feet into the air, spreading his 'wings,' gliding towards the battle below. With his ax-sword in hand and handgun in its holster, he tilted downwards to the ground.

"Be careful." Sighed Veronica as she watched him go. Her brother always returned home in one piece, even after his accident. It pained her never to see his face again, but she knew it was better to have some form of her brother then none at all. A human corporal came up behind her and gave her a quick salute. "At ease, what's the problem?"

"It's the Empress, milady. She demands that guard have a council immediately regarding NERV."

"Alright corporal, ready my chambers."

"Yes, milady." The corporal turned around and pointed to two privates to Veronica's chambers. Veronica glanced back at them, and then looked back the bleak landscape. NERV, the name of a dead organization that built the Evangelion's and led the world into the 3rd Impact. Veronica thought the SBHM would've hated the organization, however the SBHM used NERV's tech for their armies, and their cities. Countless improvements were made to their armies, such as better weaponry, control of the machines, and better power outlets for their fortresses and mechs. She turned around from the battle to her quarters where the preparations were being made for her meeting with the Empress. Her quarters had air conditioning, a fanciful excuse for being an officer, so it was considerably cooler then the outside world. She walked in her private quarters where all the preparations were made for the Sync Conference with her and the other council members, as well as the Empress. She took off her officer's jacket, and unclipped her combat vest, because they limited transmission signals between her and the other council members. She was only left with her dull cut off and tight short shorts. She sat down on her chair in a meditative posture to calm herself, as she felt up her down her neck for her neural links. She picked up a cord that was lying on the ground like a dead snake. She then carefully thrust it into her neural link. A rush of cold, numbing pain seared up and down her body. She gritted her teeth, reminding herself that it would last only a few moments. The pain finally stopped, leaving only a cold sensation in her brain. Soon her feet, then her legs, torso, chest, neck, and then finally her head, went numb. Veronica's eyes rolled back into her head as she collapsed in her chair, unconscious.

She "awoke" in a grand, cathedral-like complex, sitting in a chair across from the other council members. Most of them were Scholars of the Imperial Archives; however some of them were commanders of the Queen's guard, like herself. Others were generals and magistrates from other provinces. She looked at her "clothes," which had changed from the military skivvies she was wearing earlier. She was wearing Nobles' robes, colored in maroon and silver, the imperial colors. On her shoulder, was the symbol of the Queen's guard; twin silver swords outlined in gold, guarding a maroon crown. She looked up at the council again, in which most of them were looking at the Queen, although some were getting used to this Sync conference. In this dimension, your image would be self projected, however your choice of clothing was limited by the occasion, and you could only use two of your five senses: sight and hearing. This was a little disorienting to some who could not feel anything with their hand, giving them a sense of weightlessness. The Queen, who was seated in the middle of the table, rose up and began the meeting.

"The 23rd council of New Cana and the new age of the Sacred Bond between Humans and Machines is now in session." She was greeted with enthusiastic applause by the council. "Today we have discovered a new weapon that will make the Mages and Anarchists tremble in fear! Council Member Dornan if you would please." A brown haired young man with blonde streaks in his hair rose above the council.

"Today, Strike Team Bravo of the Wolf Army has found something buried within NERV headquarters site two, about three weeks ago." Another council member rose across the table.

"Why was this not reported sooner? They should've made their report sooner than three weeks! What held them up so?"

"If council member Orofino would hold his tongue, I will explain" Dornan slashed back. "They were held up because one of the squad barely made it to New Cana with little but his life and a spent rifle. Thank the Queen he was spared death! He reported that Site 2 was not entirely destroyed as we previously thought, but a strange cross between an EMP bomb and a Nuclear Explosion."

"What makes you say that?" said a tall man with bronze skin and a mop of curly, dark brown hair.

"Because only the cage that held the Evangelion Units was turned into pure energy, along with the top levels. However lower levels of the facility were spared with the exception of all electronics fried and disabled. Also another factor was found that is currently under investigation."

"What is this other factor?" an old woman spoke out.

"Zombies." There was some murmuring among the council about the proof this accusation had.

Veronica was the first to speak to the council directly. "How can this even 'factor' possibly exist? I mean there is no way for actual undead to come back to life per se. If you mean with like an electrical shock like a defibulator, than yes we would accept this accusation."

"However you do know," Dornan began "that each AT field generated by Angels and Evangelions alike consists and is powered by a soul. At the time of NERV 02 destruction there could've been some form of energy that brought back the deceased and gave them souls back. It's in the theory stages but it's one of the best ones we've got."

"Thank you Dornan," began the Queen "now share with us more interesting information about the Evangelions, please."

"Oh yeah," Dornan furiously flipped through his data pad searching for the information. "Here it is, I think this will all interest you." In the middle of the table a huge hologram appeared in a light blue tint. "You all know about Veronica's brother, Brian, and how he is the prototype for our mobile Human-Evangelion hybrid. However effective, he is still a prototype and lacking in an adequate power supply and armor capable of withstanding battle. With just his strength along with his augmentations, He can only have about an hour's worth of power, which is a huge improvement over the maximum 5 minutes the original Evangelions had, but is still not capable of contious battle lasting days. We needed a better power supply and that is what we got. In the 02 site, there was a smaller version of the S2 engine was found. In other words a dummy plug with the power of a nuclear reactor, without the risk. I think it would greatly improve Brian's movement and power intake."

"Thank you Dornan," the Queen interjected "Is there anyone in the council who would like to comment?" Veronica stood up from her chair.

"Excuse me, but I will not have my brother infused with a dummy plug and an S2 engine at the same time. Aren't the S2 enignes combined with the dummy plug a way of causing extreme bloodlust, rage, and insanity within the Evangelions. My brother is not just some mech you can pull the plug out of. What if this backlashes or has even worse effects for him?"

"It is only a theory," Dornan reassured "We have no motive to try out on Brian just yet. First we would design a unit, non-human of course, to test this S2 engine on."

"Would anyone else like to comment." The Queen told the council. "Then it is settled. Commander Dornan will begin the S2 projects to improve our Evangelions. In the meantime, commanders report back to your duties, and scholars return to your libraries. Vive un Imperium!"

"Vive un Imperium!" the others shouted. They all disappeared back to the world seconds after.

Veronica awoke feeling like she had a hangover from a long night with some scotch. Her eyes rolled around in her sockets, trying to see depth and perception again. She tried getting up but her legs were too weak. She cursed silently to herself; this was one of the worst side effects of Sync conferences. They took all the energy out of the council members and Queen. She sat back in her chair trying to regain herself, when her colonel walked in. He turned away immediately.

"I I I'm sorry m m m milady." He stammered as he started to sweat bullets down his face.

"Never seen a woman naked huh? Don't worry you're not missing much." Remarked Veronica.

"Sorry ma'am but its a little…well…uncomfortable seeing your commanding officer half-naked."

"What? I don't look that bad, do I? I mean I stay fit, and I'm only in my early 20's. I don't look like your grandmother do I?

"No ma'am you don't!"

"Good, 'cause if you said I did…"

"I'd be demoted?"

"Worse, cannon bait" The soldier shifted uncomfortably in his stance. "Anyways has been any word from my brother?"

"No ma'am, no word. It's been only 17 minutes so we have nothing to worry about."

"Good and one more thing." She extended her hand "Help me up." The soldier smiled.

"Yes ma'am."


End file.
